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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26910598">birds on a wire</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/florieneofthesea/pseuds/florieneofthesea'>florieneofthesea</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>this world we set on fire [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Storm Hawks (Cartoon)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Fights, Friendship, Gen, Side Mission, The Team Are Badasses</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-07 00:14:24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>5,153</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26910598</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/florieneofthesea/pseuds/florieneofthesea</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>People always underestimate the Storm Hawks, they never seem to realise just what they're capable of. Terra Atmosia recruit Connor learns this the hard way: in the middle of a battlefield.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>this world we set on fire [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1963522</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>11</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Sooo I don't really know what this is a part of or really where this sits but I think firstly, Finn should get some more screentime where he can show off his marksmanship skills and also bond more with Aerrow since they both drink from the same chaotic dumbass juice bottle sometimes. </p><p>This is set somewhere towards the end of the war, it's part of this AU storyline I've been thinking up, where the team have been able to establish themselves to a certain point and collaborate with the official Atmosian fighting force. Currently they're undercover on a quiet terra, away from the most heated parts of the frontline, and were placed there but Atmosia. </p><p>This is something that's been sitting in my notes for too long so I felt like I just needed to post it and move on.</p>
    </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>A little bit of a prologue to introduce a couple characters and set the scene.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Connor thought he'd hit the jackpot. He'd signed up with his friends for the war effort for a little adventure, for life outside of Terra Atmosia, and promptly contacted his aunt to ask for the Tranqua assignment.  Terra Tranqua was supposed to be quiet, relaxing, far from the frontlines but key enough that it had bragging rights, and it was for the first month. They had the run of the place, and they'd quickly been able to palm off the inventory checking to the other recruits there, instructing them to follow the manual books they'd apparently also brought over from Atmosia. Day to day was just entertainment. They'd take the skimmers to the inner country and race over the small hills, try to one-up each other on the shooting range, go swimming and then come back to base for a full meal and a warm shower. He'd radio his girlfriend every day to talk about all they'd been doing, defending the Terra from Cyclonians, keeping the supply chain intact. And every time she gasped or giggled at his many exploits he'd puff up his chest and resolve to actually go and see what they were actually doing on the terra, so he could tell her in more detail. </p><p>It was in one of these sessions, he got a call from the frontlines, from the Lord Admiral himself.  </p><p>"<em>Terra Tranqua, this is Tannhauser, report</em>."  </p><p>Connor nearly squealed, he grabbed his friends over and they'd shoved out everyone else, locking the communications room, "Sir! This is Connor-"  </p><p>"And Bull!"  </p><p>"And Mov!"  </p><p>"Shut up guys!" Connor hissed, "Everything is going smoothly, I've been making sure of it." </p><p>A pause. He couldn't believe it. The Lord Admiral.   </p><p>"<em>Good, I have a couple of recruits on the way over, they're there for some disciplinary issues, take care of them,</em>" The Admiral said, and the line went dead.  </p><p>"That was Admiral Tannhauser! That's so cool! What did he say?"  </p><p>"Some troublemakers are on the way, the Admiral told me to take care of things!" He stands up and the chair skids back, pride swells in him and he's already running through all the possible punishments he could give the new recruits, "Come on, let's go make sure these new guys are welcome."  </p><p>"And show them who's boss."  </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Our bird boys are those 'new recruits', and it's been a very long time since they've been forced to stay in one place for very long.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“It’s good if it’s quiet,” He says, and Finn only sags, the boxes of equipment they were assigned to were largely unsorted and even as he says the words he shares in his friend’s thoughts: utter boredom. It scares him a little, how much of his life the war has consumed. Aerrow tried to pick up a few books while they were here, a lonely supply terra out of the way of the fight, and he couldn’t get past the few pages like Piper would. The words were dry and dense on the page and he couldn’t even sit still long enough, promptly returning the book to its place and running off to find Finn. <br/> <br/>Finn wasn’t doing much better either. He has been excited for the first three days, avidly chatting and relaxing in the small peace they had been given but by day four, he’d come up with a bag of overripe tuska-cherries and they’d snuck out on a mission to stain every single person’s shirt. It had worked too well, they hadn’t woken a single person up and they’d collapsed into bed, tired out and their only flaw was that they’d forgotten to stain their own shirts to avoid blame.<br/> <br/>There was nothing left to lose, they just kept up the pranks. Soon enough they’d attracted enough of their fellow soldier’s ire they got nothing but dirty looks. Soldiers. It was strange to think of it like that, the people here were roughly their age, maybe younger, all also considered children. But here they are anyways, far from the Southern Atmos and deep in the Graves.<br/> <br/>“Feels like old times,” Finn says as a pair shoot them both annoyed look.<br/> <br/>“Like Grimsley?”<br/> <br/>“Exactly, he hated us for dumb reasons too.”<br/> <br/>They took the path down to the edge of the terra, picking up stray rocks, “I remember getting beat up once.”<br/> <br/>“Crazy dude, that was nearly three years ago.”<br/> <br/>“Makes me feel old.”<br/> <br/>Finn throws the first of their rock pile and sends it sailing over the edge and to the Wastelands. There’s nothing to hit, there’s no goal, it’s just about the most relaxing activity they can get their hands on. Finn would rather listen to the radio to keep up with the wrestling matches but it’d been overtaken by another group, who quite frankly resembled Grimsely and his gang a little too much. Aerrow himself would rather go flying, but they’d been grounded, strict orders to stay low, very low. Tannhauser knew exactly what punishment would irk them the most. Still, he can’t help but feel there’s something else going on. <br/> <br/>They sit there chucking stones for the rest of the afternoon. The sun starts to set and their stomach’s are calling for food. Aerrow swipes them extra pudding for dessert, and they finish their dinner’s fast, shooting out the door for the range - the only other source of entertainment on this terra. Finn predictably, doesn’t miss. Or he misses just to make Aerrow feel better, which is hardly ever does.<br/> <br/>“Dude how come you can fight the Dark–“<br/> <br/>“Shh!” Aerrow hastily shoved a spoonful of pudding into Finn’s mouth, “Low! Remember?”<br/> <br/>“But why? This is dumb, no one here even recognises us so why do we even have to use fake names and whatever?” Finn mumbles through the pudding, keeping his voice quiet enough it doesn’t reach the others on the shooting range, filtering in slowly after dinner, “I mean, you didn’t even dye your hair, like we’re not even trying to hide.”<br/> <br/>“Hey lots of people have red hair, why is it always the hair?”<br/> <br/>“Yeah right name like two other people with red hair.”<br/> <br/>He doesn’t response because he can’t think of anyone, and huffs instead, “Ask the Admiral.”<br/> <br/>“No way! He scares me, you ask him.”<br/> <br/>“Me asking questions is exactly why we’re here y’know.”<br/> <br/>Finn swallows his pudding and puts three more bullseye’s in the target, a hundred yards down, “We’re cursed,” He groans, and puts another three in the centre. Aerrow’s been improving his aim at least, it’s not wildly off course anymore but it’s hardly anywhere near Finn’s level of accuracy and speed. Frankly he’s not cut out for it. And to be fair Finn was probably the last person he’d think would be good at it, shooting required patience, Finn had said and he’d thought it was joke. <br/> <br/>A group pulled up beside them and Aerrow was shoved aside, his shot going wide, and snapping into the bushes, “Watch it Harold.”<br/> <br/>Finn giggles.<br/> <br/>“Don’t mind me,” Aerrow mutters, and steps to the side, lining up his next shot. It goes wide agin because someone elbow’s his ribs.<br/> <br/>“Oops, didn’t see you there, <em>Harold</em>.”<br/> <br/>This time there’s no laughter from Finn.<br/> <br/>Aerrow’s not in the mood for confrontation, they’re trapped enough as it is and between their admittedly annoying pranks and the routine boredom he’s surprised there isn’t an underground fighting run set up already. Finn’s right it did feel like Grimsley all over again, except this time Grimsley 2.0 was a Southern Atmosian recruit, not Cyclonian. Grimsley 2.0 is also much less aggressive and that’s the most that happens than night. Finn does shoot their target’s support leg, and it’s quick and subtle and lost amongst the rest of the range’s blasts that Grimsley doesn’t even consider their involvement and they turn in for the night without any hassle.<br/> <br/>“Maybe the pranks were a bad idea,” Finn voices as they lay in their bunk beds.<br/> <br/>“We can apologise in the morning?”<br/> <br/>“Nah, they’re fun, I just mean the like, Grimsley number two.”<br/> <br/>Aerrow twists over to look down at Finn on the bottom bunk, head resting comfortably on his hands, staring up, “It wasn’t bad, he probably thought he was getting back at us for swapping the salt with white chilli powder.”<br/> <br/>“I know he wasn’t going to try anything but...dude I don’t know, it’s just that, Grimsely was a long time ago but...”<br/> <br/>He doesn’t blame him. Grimsley’s presence while they were on Neverlandis was an invisible scar that might never really heal. Especially for Finn, who was targeted to the Wastelands and back. <br/> <br/>“Yeah,” Aerrow says, and rolls back into his bunk, “I get what you mean.”<br/> <br/>“You were so cool back then though I can’t believe you got beat up for me.”<br/> <br/>He laughs, “Hey are you saying I’m not cool now?”<br/> <br/>“Shut up dude, go to bed.”<br/> <br/>“G’night.”<br/> <br/>They don’t sleep much at all. <br/> <br/>The cooler dry night-temperatures in this part of the Graves is overturned in the span of an hour, the humidity is sickening in their small room - a converted mini supply shed - and the wind is picking up. There’s an electricity in the air, one he knows too well.<br/> <br/>Aerrow sits bolt right when the feeling clicks, and he hears Finn wake too judging by the south of him smacking his head against the bunk, You too?” He asks softly, wondering if they’re just paranoid.<br/> <br/>“Yeah, but there’s no way right? We’re so out of far from the frontlines. How’d they even find us?”<br/> <br/>He swings his legs over and jumps down from his bunk, mind racing. How did they find this terra? Aerrow’s shoving on his boots, his gloves, rubbing the little sleep he has from his eyes and trying to think, “There’s a traitor,” He says in the end and all Finn can muster is “Oh great.”<br/> <br/>“Admiral must’ve known,” Aerrow continues, coming wide awake now. The downtime has done nothing to impact his capacity for tactics, his mind chases after so many different threads, “This terra is a gateway, it’s small but it’s part of the chain. He probably wanted us to find the traitor and stop a takeover.”<br/> <br/>“And we’ve done nothing because he literally didn’t tell us.”<br/> <br/>“Well, at least we have good experience with tight deadlines.”<br/> <br/>“Tell me about it,” Finn groans, “Ok so what’s the plan?”<br/> <br/>“Let’s just see if there is a storm first.”<br/> <br/>“Ugh if he knew why didn’t he send us backup?” Finn’s also stepping into his shoes, trying to find his socks in the dark. He taps on the crystal lamp and it casts a warm yellow in he room.<br/> <br/>“I don’t know,” He admits, and he almost says ask Piper, but that’s not an option, “But hey, we did ask for a little less boredom.”<br/> <br/>“Being attacked wasn’t my plan though,” Finn says, grabbing his crossbow before they step themselves out into the warm night. He doesn’t have his twin blades on him, too recognisable, according to Tannhauser. His first order of business is to find something then.<br/> <br/>It’s dark outside, and they slip into the armoury whilst keeping an eye out for the tell-tale red. They don’t have to wait long. In the distance, firebolt red crackling across the sky. Cyclonians.</p><p>Some recruits are already outside, gasping as they see the same darkening view. There's shouting and screaming as they draw closer and Finn shoulders through the circle, “What? Never seen a storm before?”<br/> <br/>“I’ve never seen that, that’s Cyclonians! They’re coming!”<br/> <br/>“That’s what we said, like an hour ago,” Finn groans and throws a bag of fuel crystals onto his skimmer, they’re nothing near weapons grade but any sort of explosion mid air is devastating enough as it is, “How far away are they?”<br/> <br/>Aerrow frowns at the horizon, the red storm was as wide as his hand now, “Another hour I’d say, tops, we’d better get moving.”<br/> <br/>“We’re going to fight?” One of Grimsley 2.0’s friends stares at them.<br/> <br/>“‘Course we are, if we don’t we die.”<br/> <br/>“Dude, that’s dark,” But Finn is grinning, “Dibs on the left.”<br/> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Some (hopefully) exciting pre-fight scenes! I just want our bird children to show off what they've had to learn and pick up while being thrust into the war. Also, here's Connor acting like a bully might.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Bull shakes him, and then Mov is shouting and pointing at the window and he has to get up to see the commotion.<br/> <br/>Connor leans out the window, the outside air is disgustingly humid, and a rabble of other recruits are already outside, gasping and points up. He wants to tell them to shut up and go back to bed, but what captivated them streaks across the distant sky: red lightning. He bursts out of the room, Mov and Bull hot on his tail and shoves past the group to the edge of the terrra. He's not dreaming, the clouds are thickening, darkening, and red flashes colour the distance, "What the hell! What is this?!"<br/> <br/>"Firebolt storm? Isn't that obvious?" <br/> <br/>He whirls to face the blond recruit, fully dressed, fully armoured, "I know what it is you idiot! Why are there Cyclonians here? We're so far from the frontlines!"<br/> <br/>Mov pulls at his sleeve, "What are we gonna do Connor?"<br/> <br/>He doesn't know. How the hell was he supposed to know? He came to Tranqua because it was quiet, not because he actually wanted to fight.<br/> <br/>"We need to run," Connor finds his voice, and turns around to the rest of the recruits now, all pouring out from their dorms, staring at him, "We can't fight them, we'll die, we should run-"<br/> <br/>"What do you mean run?" It's one of the girls he thinks he might've shoved in the communications room, the one with weird grey-purple hair, and she storms up to the front, "Cyclonians killed my family, now they're coming to kill me, why the hell should I run when revenge is right in front of me?"<br/> <br/>Mutters spread, and he feels some of that self-assurance return, "Because we might die, idiot!"<br/> <br/>"I'm ready to die!" She spits, "Sky Knights are giving their lives in this war, why should I do any less!"<br/> <br/>"Don't you want to go home?!" He steps back automatically as she encroaches on his personal space.<br/> <br/>"What home?" She snarls, "The one in the Wastelands? Or the one under Cyclonian control?"<br/> <br/>"Atmosia isn't under Cyclonian rule-"<br/> <br/>"Atmosia!" Lynn says it with such hatred and he doesn't know why. Isn't she from Atmosia? Why would she say things like that? None of this made sense, he wants to go back to bed, he wants to go home. Connor looks to Mov and Bull, and they're both huddled together, equally confused and so out of their comfort zone. Why wasn't anyone else saying anything? Weren't they going to point out how delusional she was? "We need to stand our ground and fight back, they're coming for us, we'd better be ready," She continues, and there are small cheers in the crowd. He doesn't know any of them, he doesn't know their names. He thinks one of them might be the fat kid he'd handed off the inventory job to, and that one tall person at the back was the one who cooked for them. But he knows the new recruits, and he whirls around. They must be scared out of their minds, he could assert his position over them, and then convince the crowd to run.<br/> <br/>Connor stomps around, ready to unleash his best commanding voice, but he can barely get the first word out. They're not even looking at him.<br/> <br/>"How long d'ya reckon they'll be here?" Harold, what a dumb name, nudges the blond kid.<br/> <br/>The blondie holds up a hand, as if he's trying to measure the storm with his palm, "Hour, hour and half tops."<br/> <br/>"We don't have a lot of time," The girl steps up to them, "Do you have a plan?"<br/> <br/>He manages to find his voice and laughs at the absurdity, "They're the new recruits! What do they know, I say we run for it. we can make it to Xerxes and they can take us all back to Atmosia," Mov and Bull agree with him, and shuffle to stand at his side. No one else joins them, they're all looking at the girl, at the new recruits. <br/> <br/>Harold grins, "Plan is to give 'em hell."<br/> <br/>"Down with Cyclonia!" Lynn yells, and the cheer is taken up in moments. He refuses to participate, he's not going to die like this, he deserved better. The recruits were insane, what could they do? No on here had been in a fight before, they were all going to get overrun. <br/> <br/>The group surges towards the hangar bay and he feels a hand on his shoulder, "If you're going to run, you better get moving now, the winds are picking up," Harold says to him and the turns for the hangar bay too. That more than anything makes him mad.<br/> <br/>"What should we do Connor?" Mov whispers.<br/> <br/>"We should go now," Bull hisses, and tries to tug them to their skimmers, "Before they get here."<br/> <br/>How dare a recruit try to give him advice? Like he's some small child. He knows it's better to leave now than fly in the traces of a firebolt storm, he's not stupid, "We're staying, we're going to show those damned recruits how to actually fight," Connor declares and shrugs off Bull, stomping towards the swarm of recruits.<br/> <br/>"Split into two groups," He hears Harold say, he's sitting cross-legged on the floor of the landing strip, a huge, ugly map in front of him. Blondie is nowhere to be seen, "One on the ground, anti-air defenses, one up there, take your pick."<br/> <br/>"Are we fighting them over the terra?" The girl asks.<br/> <br/>"Nope," Harold draws a circle on the map with his finger, "We take them here, twenty klicks out, right on the border."<br/> <br/>"Border?" Someone else asks, "Tranqua is far from the Graves Line though."<br/> <br/>"Not a territory border, there's a belt of turbulence right here, nothing big, but if they're not expecting it," Harold grins, "When they hit the belt, we open fire."<br/> <br/>"What about the galleons?" The tall cook looks like he's about to fall over from fear, "They'll obliterate us."<br/> <br/>"There's only two-"<br/> <br/>"Only two! That's enough firepower to destroy the terra."<br/> <br/>"They won't get close enough," Harold is weirdly calm, like he's okay with dying today in a stupid try to be brave, "We'll deal with the airships just past the turbulence belt."<br/> <br/>The plan sounds stupid, everything sounds stupid, he can't believe people are listening, and he sees Mov kneeling down with the group, absorbed and sneers, turning to tell Bull, but Bull is gone. He looks up, one skimmer rides off towards Xerxes. Connor runs out to the edge of the strip, "Bull! You coward! Get back here!" He yells, but Bull doesn't stop, and soon he's disappeared behind the terra. When Connor turns back to the group of recruits they've all scattered, only Harold is in his original spot, folding up the map. <br/> <br/>"You're staying?" Harold doesn't even look surprised, "The teams are about even, you can pick whichever."<br/> <br/>"Who's taking down the galleons?" He demands. Harold had been vague. 'We' he said, but who the hell was that? The whole air-attack group? <br/> <br/>"Me and Finn-uh, Finnigan," He makes Blondie's name sound like two words.<br/> <br/>"You? You're going to die."<br/> <br/>Harold doesn't seemed bothered, "I've seen worse odds."<br/> <br/>"Then I'm in your group," Connor declares, even if his knees shake at the thought of facing a galleon. He's proud to make Harold look almost shocked though, and his confidence returns to him and he draws himself to full height, "You're just recruits, someone has to show you what's right," He says and stomps off to find a skimmer. <br/> <br/>"Thirty minutes!" A voice yells through the loudspeaker. Everyone is rushing, and somehow they all seem to have a job. No one's stood around a skimmer wondering how it worked, and he'd actually expected two or three to come up and beg him to teach them how to start one up. But nothing. And soon, thirty minutes is up, and he regrets volunteering to go with Harold and Blondie, but he can't back out now. They line up on the landing strip, Blondie and Harold are at the front with the girl from before, Lynn apparently, and the cook, whose name he still doesn't really care to find out.<br/> <br/>He pulls up next to them, he has his trusty blaster, and his sword, both gifts from his aunt, silver and embellished with golden leaf, and two high-grade green strikers.<br/> <br/>"Only two of you are going to try and take out the airships!" He hears Lynn exclaim as he draws up.<br/> <br/>"Three, actually," Connor says, and he inserts himself in the picture.<br/> <br/>"Him! He'll slow you down, let me go."<br/> <br/>"We need you to box the fighters in and get them over the terra for Darris and his group," Harold continues, "Don't worry, it'll work out."<br/> <br/>Lynn squints at him and Blondie, who's kicked his feet up on the dashboard, looking at his nails, all he has with him is a crossbow, "How are you so sure? Have you fought the Cyclonians before?"<br/> <br/>"Have you?"<br/> <br/>"Once," She admits, "And they took over my home."<br/> <br/>"I thought your home terra was Atmosia," Connor interjects and she turns to give him a nasty glare.<br/> <br/>"No you dolt, you and your gang are the only ones from Atmosia, the rest of us come from the Graves."<br/> <br/>"The Graves!" He jumps. He's heard stories about the Graves, it's that wild, lawless zone in the middle of the Atmos where smugglers and pirates hung out and where the war is being fought now. None of those stories are particularly nice. <br/> <br/>Another voiceover from the speakers sounds through the air. The red storm was almost on top of them and the wind was really starting to pick up, "<em>T-ten minutes!</em>"<br/> <br/>Harold pats him on the shoulder, making him jump, "That's us, we need to get past the turbulence belt before the fighters come, you good?"<br/> <br/>"This is stupid," Is all he can say and he squares his shoulders. Harold looks amused, and it just pisses him off even more, "You good Finn?"<br/> <br/>Blondie whoops and pulls his legs down, keying up the engine, "You bet, race you there?"<br/> <br/>"You're on."<br/> <br/>They take off without another word, the sound is deafening and they're already small dots in the distance. He hurries to catch up, kicking off and triggering the wings. Connor is behind them the entire time, they don't slow down to wait for him until after they pass the belt of turbulence. Harold was lying about it being 'nothing big' though. He was expecting some strong winds, and was waiting to see where it'd pop up. But both Harold and Blondie were flying smoothly he wondered if the belt was a myth, and then he got hit by it, like a ton of bricks had slammed on top of his wings. Connor had lost control of his skimmer for a good half a minute, trying to pull up against the weight and finally struggled out of it into nicer weather. He caught up with them a few minutes later, dizzy and scared of having to fly back through the belt.<br/> <br/>"Finally here?” Blondie sounds too smug.<br/> <br/>“Lay off him Finn, he just got up.”<br/> <br/>Connor doesn’t appreciate Harold defending him, but the firebolt storm is upon them and he can’t even breathe. The air is suffocating with static, and he can hear engines, a lot of engines. He turns back and he can make out Lynn’s group lining up in wait. He wants to turn back and run, this was a mistake. Why weren’t they worried at all? <br/> <br/>“Hey!” He shouts at them over the wind. The comms crackle to life, and he can hear Lynn’s voice.<br/> <br/>“<em>We’re ready</em>!”<br/> <br/>“<em>Anti-air defences are all set up</em>!”<br/> <br/>“We’re good to go too,” Harold says into the comms, and then the head of the Cyclonian warship breaks through the lower cloud layer. It dwarfs them completely, and just behind it, another galleon.<br/> <br/>“This is crazy,” He yells, “We’re going to die.”<br/> <br/>“<em>Man he’s kinda like Stork, except annoying</em>,” Connor hears Blondie through the comms.<br/> <br/>Harold laughs, “Don’t get hit!" He calls, and Connor has no intention of dying today. He turns his skimmer, and makes a break for it. Trails of firebolt blasts follow him all the way to the belt of turbulence, the airships have opened fire. Two fighters zoom past him and into the wall of turbulence and he hears Lynn yell to fire. And suddenly he’s caught up in the middle. Connor dives down, planning to slip back behind Lynn’s group for shelter.<br/> <br/>“<em>Talon!</em>” Lynn yells, “<em>One of them is a Talon!</em>“<br/> <br/>Connor feels his blood run cold. A Talon. They’re doomed. He forces himself back through the wall of turbulence and past Lynn’s group. He’s going south, to Xerxes, he knew this was a stupid plan.<br/> <br/>“Which one?” It’s Harold’s voice.<br/> <br/><em>“I don’t know! I can’t see them! They shot down Sav and Mimira! Shit! She’s here!” </em><br/> <br/>Connor hears a violin. <br/> <br/>“<em>Hey Finn,</em>” Harold’s laughing, he’s gone mad, “<em>It’s your best friend!</em>”<br/> <br/>“<em>Ugh, can’t believe I have to listen to this crap again.”</em><br/><br/>The comms crackle into static, he’s out of range. Connor keeps pushing south, surely he’ll find Xerxes before the Cyclonians can catch up. He can only hope. The sounds of the fight fade away into the background and only the wind howls in his ear.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Some clarification on the idea of the "Graves Line", I imagine it's an area of the Atmos somewhere between Terra Atmosia and Cyclonia where it's so far out from either's area of influence that they develop their own sub-culture. Connor's assumption that it's filled with pirates and smugglers is of course, him not looking beyond face value. </p><p>The Graves is where I imagine the team grew up in i.e. where Neverlandis is, and where terras like Saharr and Aquanos are as well. It's not as strict as Atmosia or Terra Rex, and each individual terra usually has their own set of codes/rules that the citizens adhere to. Since it's between the two major warring factions, the fights tend to occur in that airspace. </p><p>-- Flo :))</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>He’s flying dead south for fifteen minutes before something pings the radio. An friendly frequency.<br/> <br/>“<em>Identify yourself</em>,” The voice is murky.<br/> <br/>“Connor! I’m Atmosian! Cyclonians are coming!”<br/> <br/>The answer comes in the form of a ship breaking through the cloud layer, he recognises it, Captain Reyes’ flagship the Burning Gait. They hail him and he lands on the strip, stumbling off of it and walks right into the Captain himself. Connor is awestruck, he doesn’t even blink. <br/> <br/>“Connor was it? I’m–“<br/> <br/>“Reyes!” He blurts, “Captain Reyes! Thank the skies you’re here! Cyclonians are attacking Tranqua, there’s a Talon there! Two galleon ships!” <br/> <br/>“I’ve heard, it seems to be going according to plan however, you can relax, thank you for delivering the news.“<br/> <br/>He’s at a loss for words, “Plan? News? What–“<br/> <br/>The Captain’s comms spittle to life, “<em>Hey Reyes, did you catch our guy</em>?”<br/> <br/>That’s Harold’s voice. What the hell was going on? How did Harold know Captain Reyes? He must be too exhausted, nothing made sense.<br/> <br/>“We did,” The Captain said, “And we’ve got Hesara’s nephew with us, safe.”<br/> <br/>“<em>Yes</em>!” That was Blondie, “<em>Take that Aerrow! I told you he was that politician lady's kid!</em>”<br/> <br/>“<em>Nephew</em>, <em>that doesn’t count</em>.”<br/> <br/>“<em>I’d like my clothes minty fresh and my ride sparkling thanks–</em>“<br/> <br/>“Focus,” Captain Reyes ground out, “What’s the status on the battleships?”<br/> <br/>“<em>We’re on it</em>.”<br/> <br/>“And the Talon?”<br/> <br/>“<em>Finn called dibs</em>.”<br/> <br/>The Captain signals something to his officers and he feels the ship lurch forward a little, they’re moving faster and they cut through back to Tranqua quickly. The Captain takes him up to the bridge and if he was any less shaky he might’ve been overwhelmed. As it was he barely processed the event s that were happening. The Burning Gait was one of the best ships in the Atmos, he was safe here.<br/> <br/>“Captain?” Connor suddenly sits up, “Did anyone else come by? My friend Bull was going south too, did he make it?”<br/> <br/>The Captain gives him one long hard look and he wonders if he spoke out of turn, “No, we didn’t find your friend, he might’ve slipped under our radars.”<br/> <br/>He doesn’t get a chance to ask how in the Atmos that was possible. They launch straight into the battlefield, rising up behind friendly fighters. <br/> <br/>“What frequency are you on?” The Captain barks into his comms.<br/> <br/>“<em>Uh, two-eighty-A</em>.”<br/> <br/>One of the officers brings it up and a burst of noise fills the bridge.<br/> <br/>“<em>It’s the Burning Gait! We have backup!”</em><br/><br/><em>“Get back to the terra! We can’t let them fry the anti-air defences!”</em><br/><br/><em>“Look! The galleons! They’re on fire!”</em><br/> <br/>Connor presses himself up to the window. Below are Lynn’s group, circling around to level with the Burning Gait. They’re passing over Terra Tranqua and in the short distance he sees the two leviathan Cyclonian airships. Connor grabs a pair of peepers and blinks through them.<br/> <br/>Harold is nowhere to be seen, but Blondie is there, and each time he blinks an engine is destroyed. The explosions hurt his ears even from this far away and in less than a minute, the galleon is sinking, smoking, collapsing into the lower cloud layers. <br/> <br/>He hears Lynn cheer, the others screaming in victory and he has to rub his eyes and pinch his cheeks. Blondie just took down an entire galleon. This was a dream.<br/> <br/>There was only one left now. All that’s left of the first one is a plume of smoke, and he catches sight of it falling through the cloud layer. <br/> <br/>“<em>Hurry up dude, Ravess is gonna shoot us out of the sky soon I can feel it.</em>” Blondie says through the comms, hardly even breaking a sweat by the sounds of it. He’s circling the falling galleon.<br/> <br/>“<em>Alright alright, come pick me up</em>,” Harold says and Connor puts the peepers up to his face again, focusing on the second ship.<br/> <br/>He almost doesn’t see what happened. One minute the bridge of the Cyclonian galleon is dark, lit up only by their own firebolt blasts, the next it’s on fire, blown wide open and exposed to the elements. A secondary explosion sets off and carves right into the heart of the airships. It goes down. <br/> <br/>Connor’s dizzy from zooming out, trying to see the bigger picture. Harold and Blondie are suddenly on the same skimmer, and he sees the remains of Harold’s skimmer are lodged into the bridge that’s falling.<br/> <br/>“<em>Okay, show off, now get your own skimmer</em>,” He hears Blondie and Connor’s jaw drops as Harold takes a running jump off the wing and lands onto a Cyclonian fighter. The Cyclonian goes down, and he sees a parachute deploy just under the main cloud layer, following the smoke. <br/> <br/>“The Talon?” Captain Reyes repeats impatiently. The Burning Gait has deployed it’s own forces to aid the battle, they were pushing back.<br/> <br/>“<em>I see her, she’s retreating</em>.”<br/> <br/>“Can you shoot her down?”<br/> <br/>“<em>With this shitty crossbow?”</em><br/><br/><em>“I thought you never missed</em><span class="u">,</span>" Comes Harold's smug voice.<br/> <br/>Blondie was swearing now.<br/> <br/>The comm lines go silent. The fight is dying down, Cyclonian fighters were turning back, and he sees Lynn’s group landing on Tranqua. The bridge of the Burning Gait is professional, and the Captain is already accepting reports. Connor’s heartrate is slowing down, he’s not as tense anymore and something he’d heard over the comms draws his suspicion.<br/> <br/>“Captain Reyes?” He turns, “Who’s Aerrow?”<br/> <br/>“The Storm Hawk, you’ve met him. I do believe he was told to stay low.“<br/> <br/>Connor sits down <em>hard</em>. </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Whew! I'm happy I wrote enough to be able to post this up. Connor is some Atmosian politician (Hesara's) nephew, so that's also why he was very confident and arrogant earlier as well. </p><p>Clarification on Lord Admiral Tannhauser and Captain Reyes. I was always a bit confused as to how Atmosia has enough firepower to go against Cyclonia when it seems like they only have Sky Knight squadrons fighting for them, so I imagine in my AU at least that there's a military force full of recruited Southern Atmosian citizens who sign up for the war effort. The age of enlistment is quite low, I might have a fic up later even diving into that topic, but for the purpose of this fic, it's low (surprise! war is not good for your children). Lord Admiral Tannhauser is someone who leads the entire military fleet, and is the top of the chain. Captain Reyes is a well respected captain of one of the ships, and is also part of the military force. </p><p>They work separately to the Sky Knights. Sky Knights are what I imagine to be the cream of the crop from each Terra, and are affiliated with the military but also have more freedom to act independently and of their own jurisdiction, and are managed by the Sky Knight Council instead. </p><p>Hope that was fun for everyone!</p><p>-- Flo :))</p>
        </blockquote><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Grimsely 2.0 is "Connor" if that got lost. Connor is a Terra Atmosian recruit that has never been anywhere near the front and came in with an expectation of glory, but of course, that's just now how it is.</p><p>-- Flo :))</p></blockquote></div></div>
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